Ratings: Tyler’s F-Bomb Doesn’t Spark ‘Idol’

ABC’s new Elisha Cuthbert sitcom “Happy Endings” experienced a steep decline from last week’s series premiere, while “American Idol” continued to dominate the competition on Wednesday night, according to preliminary numbers.

Thanks in huge part to “Idol,” Fox was the overall winner in the adults 18-49 demographic.

Last night’s “Idol” performance episode — complete with judge Steven Tyler’s f-bomb — from 8 p.m. to 9:30 took the evening's top numbers, grabbing a 6.8 rating/19 share in the key demo and 21.7 million total viewers — a drop of only around 4 percent from last week's performance show.

Fox's new Christian Slater comedy “Breaking In” at 9:30 nabbed the top ratings in its time slot thanks in large part to the lead-in assist from “Idol,” with a 2.5/7 in the demo and an average of 7.5 million total viewers.

At ABC, the evening started off with “The Middle” at 8 p.m., which performed flat from last week with a 1.8/6 in the demo and 6.7 million total viewers.

“Better With You” at 8:30 had a 7 percent bump in the demo compared to last week, with a 1.6/4 and 5.2 million total viewers.

“Modern Family” at 9 p.m. was down 5 percent from the previous week with a 3.7/10 in the demo and 9.8 million total viewers, but still captured the second-best ratings behind “Idol.”

“Cougar Town” at 9:30 averaged a 2.4/6 in the demo and 6.2 million total viewers, and “Happy Endings” at 10 took a 22 percent slide in the demo from last week’s premiere, with a 1.8/5 and 4.6 million total viewers. Another episode of the series at 10:30 had a 1.6/4 in the demo and 3.8 million total viewers.

CBS’ primetime kicked off with “Survivor: Redemption Island” at 8, which had a 3.0/9 in the demo and 10.4 million total viewers. A repeat of “Criminal Minds” followed the following hour, drawing a 1.9/5 in the demo and 8.7 million total viewers, while a “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” took a 1.7/4 in the demo and 7.1 million total viewers.